Return on Investment

When addressing how to create momentum in your men’s ministry, you may ask “How do you overcome the spiritual inertia in men?” Many men in the local church...

When addressing how to create momentum in your men’s ministry, you may ask “How do you overcome the spiritual inertia in men?” Many men in the local church are not moving forward in their spiritual life. Our challenge is to help them move from their prolonged state of rest to ongoing growth and change. The challenge is great!!!

Pastors and leaders around the country have worked hard at ministry to men over the years. This has especially been true the last fifteen years as the visibility of men’s ministry has been raised. What have been the results of this hard work? Although there are exceptions, the results have typically been a series of starts and stops. Churches experience a short season of success followed by an even longer season of failure. They see men come out to an event or a conference or a series of seminars but are not able to keep the interest of men. Man in the Mirror would call this ‘creating momentum without capturing and sustaining the momentum’.

The starts and stops in ministry to men may be due to disconnected entry points, bad timing, poor quality, poor leadership and a host of other reasons. I have discovered that a common reason is lack of attention to the potential return that an event will bring to the ministry. If you and your team work hard to put on a first class entry level event for men than you want to make sure that there is a tangible return for the investment of your time and energy. This is just good stewardship!

This return can and should look different for different events.

Some examples might include:EventReturn
Attend a baseball game 50% of men succeed in bringing a guest
Fathering Seminar Dads begin to read the bible 1x/week to their children
ISI Conference Every man identifies one application and shares it
Men’s Breakfast Men who attend will look forward to the next breakfast
Serving Projects Multiple men begin to serve others together
Sunday School Class Men commit to pray once a week for one other man
Men’s Retreat Four week follow up for the men who attend
Four Week Follow-up 2 out of 3 men accept an invitation to a small group

Ministry to men is just much too difficult not to give focused attention to a planned and prayerful return on investment. Be sure to always be asking these questions:

How does the event fit into your men’s ministry calendar?
Will it launch what you are planning next for the men?
Is there a specific result that can come out of the event?
Will the visibility of the men’s ministry be enhanced because of this event?
Will new men come to know the Lord because they attended this event?
Will a new man get connected to another man because he attended this event?

When putting on an event for men, think through what the Return on Investment will be.

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